About the Global Forest Coalition (GFC): We are an international coalition of 112 NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ Organizations from 68 countries, defending social justice and the rights of forest peoples in forest policies. GFC carries out joint advocacy campaigns on the need to respect the rights, roles and needs of Indigenous Peoples, women and local communities in forest conservation and the need to address the underlying causes of forest loss. Welcome to the 63rd issue of Forest Cover, a series of reports and other publications by the Global Forest Coalition connecting international forest policy to local views and experiences. To receive Forest Cover by email please join our mailing list: http://globalforestcoalition.org/subscribe/ Editorial Team: Coraina de la Plaza, Isis Alvarez, Megan Morrissey, Oliver Munnion and Simone Lovera Editors: Oliver Munnion and Megan Morrissey Translators: Danae Barrera, Elena Kreuzberg, Megan Morrissey, Oliver Munnion, Patricia Puechagut, Pierre-Yves Serinet and Svetlana Abramovich Design: Oliver Munnion You can donate to GFC here globalforestcoalition.org globalforestcoalition.org/photography @globalforestcoalition @gfc123 global.forest Front cover image: Fires started to clear land for agribusiness have devastated the Pantanal and other ecosystems this year, João Paulo Guimarães Contents page/circular photo credits: Los Bajos No Se Tocan; Simone Lovera; João Paulo Guimarães; FCPEEP; Roshan Chikanbanjar; Bill Meier/Flickr; Justiça Ambiental; Mrinalini Rai; Federica Giunta; Extinction Rebellion North. Back page photo: Monoculture eucalyptus plantation, Simone Lovera This publication has been produced with the assistance of Misereor, the Silicon Valley Community Foundation and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC). The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the Global Forest Coalition and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of donors. Circular economy or vicious cycle? Eucalyptus plantations for pulp and paper in 2 December 2020 | Mozambique. Justiça Ambiental Contents Introduction: On forests, finance and perverse partnerships 4 By Simone Lovera Argentina on the brink: How EU agribusiness Subsidies and state support frustrated the reform of the 8 for industrial livestock and 20 most perverse incentive of feedstock farming are all: The Common Agricultural destroying wetlands Policy By Nina Holland and By Emilio Spataro Simone Lovera Livestock farming and Portucel Moçambique: privilege in Paraguay: 10 Your profit is not our Destruction and injustice 24 development! By Miguel Lovera By Vanessa Cabanelas Brazil’s unsustainable agro- The capture of policy-making industrial supply chain and by the pulp and paper 12 perverse incentives against 27 industry is driving mega-fires forests and human rights in Portugal and land By Carolina Alves, Letícia Tura grabbing in Mozambique and Maureen Santos By Oliver Munnion The livestock sector in South The corporate capture of Kivu, Democratic Republic of climate policy and finance: driving investments in tree 16 Congo: Corruption, poor 30 governance and a brutal plantations and bioenergy disregard for human rights instead of forest restoration By John Ciza By Coraina de la Plaza and Oliver Munnion Drax and the art of Incentives for intensive corporate capture: animal agriculture clash with 18 33 Subsidising the world’s forest protection in Nepal largest biomass power By Bhola Bhattarai and station By Frances Howe and Roshan Chikanbanjar Sally Clark Conclusion: The vicious cycle of corporate capture of policy-making 36 and perverse incentives for forest destruction By Oliver Munnion and Simone Lovera Circular economy or vicious cycle? | December 2020 3 Introduction: On forests, finance and perverse partnerships By Simone Lovera, Global Forest Coalition, Paraguay One of the biggest misconceptions in forest conservation conservation has to be paid for policy is the assumption that forests grow on money.1 might undermine the traditional value systems that are at the heart A 2015 comparative analysis2 of the while the record in monetary of many community conservation relationship between investment in economies tends to be a lot less initiatives.5 the forestry sector and forest positive. The community conservation in 19 countries that conservation resilience So, while the positive link between successfully halted and reversed assessments GFC facilitated forests and finance is contested, forest cover loss found no statistical between 2015 and 2019 showed the negative link is not. It is widely relationship. While a few countries that recognition of forest recognized that perverse incentives that received significant forest governance rights, respect for the in the form of subsidies and other conservation funding and other role of Indigenous Peoples, local economic incentives for sectors forest investments had halted or communities and women in forest that trigger forest loss are a key reversed forest loss (such as China), conservation and the provision of driver of deforestation and forest many countries that had received affordable (if not free) public degradation. As the examples in hardly any investments in their services like health care, education, this report show, in many forest sector, including least water, and electricity were countries, forest loss is the result of developed countries, had a stable considered far more valuable for activities and sectors that are or even growing natural forest community conservation initiatives enthusiastically supported through cover. Obviously, the relationship than financial investments.4 economic support mechanisms between forest sector investment Researchers have even cautioned such as subsidies by the same and forest conservation is that introducing the idea that governments that pledged though ambiguous to say the least. Government forestry agencies and large forest conservation organizations may depend on money, but forest conservation and restoration will simply happen for free, provided that forests are not destroyed by human activity. Biologically speaking, of course forests don’t grow on money—they were perfectly capable of conserving and restoring themselves for millions of years before money was even invented. Moreover, Indigenous Peoples and communities with primarily non- monetary economies tend to take very good care of their forests,3 Small-scale, peasant livestock farming and forest conservation go hand-in-hand. Inés Franceschelli 1 https://www.un.org/esa/forests/news/2020/11/policy-brief-on-forest-financing-and-covid-19/index.html 2 Lovera, S., Gupta, J. and van Ros-Tonen, M., 2015. Forests, Finance and Fairy Tales : The economic inefficiency of REDD+. Paper presented at the XIV World Forestry Congress, September 2015, Durban. 3 Nepstad D, Schwartzman S, Bamberger B, Santilli M, Ray D, Schlesinger P, Lefebvre P, Alencar A, Prinz E, Fiske G, Rolla A. 2006. Inhibition of amazon deforestation and fire by parks and indigenous lands, Conservation Biology, 20(1), 65-73. 4 https://globalforestcoalition.org/ccri-reports/ 5 https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/wdevel/v28y2000i6p1001-1016.html and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S092180090900456X 4 December 2020 | Circular economy or vicious cycle? Cattle fleeing fires on a ranch that was once forest. João Paulo Guimarães the Sustainable Development Goals money should be a welcome co- forests and sectors that cause to halt deforestation by 2020.6 For benefit of environmental policies deforestation, including in that reason, the Parties to the and measures now that most particular the forestry, agriculture Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) governments are deeply indebted and livestock sectors. Corporate agreed in 2010, as part of their first due to the economic costs of the capture is defined by the Strategic Plan, that COVID-19 crisis. One could imagine International Network for it might be more useful for Economic, Social and Cultural governments to invest in health Rights as care these days, rather than to invest in sectors that trigger deforestation and thus enhance the risk of future pandemics.8 Sadly, the 5th Global Biodiversity Outlook that reported on the state So why has there been so little 9 Friends of the of implementation of the first progress in the field of reducing Earth International identifies Strategic Plan of the CBD concluded perverse incentives for sectors that several forms of activities in 2020 that “little progress” had cause forest loss? Why do corporations undertake to been made in eliminating perverse governments continue to have influence national and international incentives over the past decade.7 major contradictions in their policy-making: lobbying policy- That such little progress has been forest-related economic regimes, makers behind the scenes, made is remarkable, as the phasing spending millions of dollars on organizing social events and other out of perverse incentives and forest conservation while wasting forms of ‘hospitality’, funding harmful public investments would billions on sectors and activities political parties, appointing private not only be one of the most that destroy forests? sector allies to influential public effective measures to halt forest positions, funding think tanks and loss and mitigate climate change, The answer lies in the corporate joining national or international but it could actually save capture of government policy- task forces or other influential governments a lot of money. Saving making and finance related to bodies.10 6 https://unstats.un.org/sdgs/metadata/?Text=&Goal=15&Target=15.2